Chandler Jones turned in one of the most electrifying plays of the young NFL season Sunday, blocking a Minnesota Vikings field goal and taking it 58 yards to the house.
Jones was the star of the play — doing the blocking, scooping and scoring — but he attributed its success to three factors: preparation, teamwork and a little bit of luck.
“We work on it week in and week out, no matter who we’re playing. That’s one of the things we try to take pride in here in New England,” Jones said Monday on WEEI’s “Middays with MFB.” “The biggest thing was, with blocking that kick, that was a team effort. A lot of people probably don’t understand — everyone thinks Chandler Jones went out and blocked that kick and stopped and scored — but that was 100 percent the 11 men on the New England Patriots, that was all of them. I feel like what people don’t understand is that other guys have to get penetration. Once everyone’s getting effective penetration, certain gaps opened up.
“That’s exactly what it is — guys on the outside giving 110 percent off the edge and it’s opening up things on the inside, and my gap happened to be open. Now as far as me scooping it, that was just a lucky bounce, I feel like. I blocked it right into my running lane as I was attempting to block it and the ball just one-hopped right in front of my hands and I just started running. Devin McCourty threw a great block. It was a great 11-man team effort.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick agreed with Jones’ “team effort” characterization — noting the work done by Vince Wilfork and Sealver Siliga on the inside — but he did not gloss over the defensive end’s personal contribution.
“Chandler did a great job on it,” Belichick said Monday on a conference call with reporters. “He’s obviously a really athletic guy. Once he cleared there, he has good length and was able to get up and then made a real good play after that to scoop and score and turned it into really a 10-point play — three off the board and gave us a chance to pick up seven. That was obviously a huge play in the game.”
The Vikings were all but cooked after Jones’ score, put the Patriots ahead 24-7 with just nine seconds remaining in the first half. New England cruised the rest of the way, adding two Stephen Gostkowski field goals to close out the 30-7 rout.
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Photo via Brace Hemmelgarn/USA TODAY Sports Images
